Look, I am going to be honest with you: I am exhausted, and could be experiencing early signs of writer’s block. This makes me very nervous. The last two months of my life have been pretty nuts, I’ve been traveling this week, I went to a great conference over the weekend, and now my brain is feels mushy. Last night, I had dreams that I can only categorize as anxiety dreams – I woke up about every hour and felt a compelling need to write down a funny or strange thought I had while sleeping – maybe this will help me write something in the morning!

I wrote three different drafts of today’s post, but they all really sucked and I could never figure out how to weave in this strawberry cheesecake. So maybe I’ll just say it outright: I AM REALLY TIRED AND I WANT SOMEONE TO MAKE ME A HOMEMADE CHEESECAKE TO EAT + FALL ASLEEP IN.

Kind of like this:

For some reason the idea of falling asleep in a cheesecake sounds comforting to me… Is that weird?

This strawberry cheesecake recipe comes from someone who I admire hugely – Sara Ziff. Sara is the opposite of me because she is tireless. She started the Model Alliance, has made two documentaries, has passed legislation in NY State (something paid politicians have a hard time doing), and now she’s attending Harvard Kennedy School of Government, so that she can fully take over the world. If she runs for President one day (Ziff 2032!), I would not be surprised, and I’ll be able to tell my future family about that time the President of the US set time aside time from her insanely busy life, and cooked a cheese cake for me share on my blog (Now that’s a good #tbt!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and set aside a roasting pan with high sides.

First you need to seal the bottom of your spring form pan with tin foil. If this seems weird, it will makes sense later. Don’t ask questions, the goal for now is to seal it TIGHT. So, place your spring form pan in the middle of about one foot of tin foil and gently fold up the sides around the bottom of the pan.

Crimp the top of the foil around the top edge of the pan. Repeat 1-2 more times until the bottom of the spring form pan is fully sealed. (Be careful not to make any holes in the tin foil!)

In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press into bottom of 9-inch spring form pan.

Beat the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the eggs one by one. And the butter, flour, cornstarch, and vanilla extract; mix until well combined. Fold in the sour cream. Pour the mixture over the crust into the pan.

Now place your spring form pan into the roasting pan.

Boil about 2 quarts of water to a boil. When water is boiling, pour the water into the roasting pan until it reaches about halfway up the springform pan (see, the seal exercise was essential!). Carefully move into your heated oven and cook for 1 ½ hours.

Then turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake in the cooling oven for another hour. Remove from the oven and let it cool. Run a thin spatula around the edge of the cheesecake before springing open the pan.

Spread a layer of strawberry preserve on the top of the cake. Chop off the stems and place the strawberries on top. Serve/Enjoy.

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About Elettra

Elettra Wiedemann is the founder of Impatient Foodie, a food site that navigates her desire to marry Slow Food ideals with the realities of fast paced, urban life. Within just a few months of launch in summer of 2014, Impatient Foodie was featured in numerous publications including Vogue, The New York Post, The Daily Mail (UK) Elle US, Elle China, Yahoo Food, Yahoo News, Madame Figaro, and Racked, ManRepeller, and Food & Wine Magazine.